Ten years on, Clancy is still seeking clean water

Ten years ago, after the state Department of Environmental Quality found contaminants in local well water, Jefferson County established the Clancy Water and Sewer District to create a shared community water and sewage system. A decade later, after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on testing, consulting, and engineering fees, the District is no closer to its goal.

“It’s just been such a mess for so long,” former County Commissioner Leonard Wortman told The Monitor. “And the problem isn’t just going to go away.”

The latest wave of disappointment came at the District’s Mar. 26 meeting, when representatives of Great West Engineering, the project’s lead contractor, told the board that its latest water samples had failed quality tests. Great West’s samples were taken from one of two test wells for the community water system mandated by state health officials.